Oxidative Stress and Mitochondrial Functions in the Intestinal Caco-2/15 Cell Line

Although mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress are central mechanisms in various pathological conditions, they have not been extensively studied in the gastrointestinal tract, which is known to be constantly exposed to luminal oxidants from ingested foods. Key among these is the simultaneous consumption of iron salts and ascorbic acid, which can cause oxidative damage to biomolecules.The objective of the present work was to evaluate how iron-ascorbate (FE/ASC)-mediated lipid peroxidation affects mitochondrion functioning in Caco-2/15 cells. Our results show that treatment of Caco-2/15 cells with FE/ASC (0.2 mM/2 mM) (1) increased malondialdehyde levels assessed by HPLC; (2) reduced ATP production noted by luminescence assay; (3) provoked dysregulation of mitochondrial calcium homeostasis as evidenced by confocal fluorescence microscopy; (4) upregulated the protein expression of cytochrome C and apoptotic inducing factor, indicating exaggerated apoptosis; (5) affected mitochondrial respiratory chain complexes I, II, III and IV; (6) elicited mtDNA lesions as illustrated by the raised levels of 8-OHdG; (7) lowered DNA glycosylase, one of the first lines of defense against 8-OHdG mutagenicity; and (8) altered the gene expression and protein mass of mitochondrial transcription factors (mtTFA, mtTFB1, mtTFB2) without any effects on RNA Polymerase. The presence of the powerful antioxidant BHT (50 microM) prevented the occurrence of oxidative stress and most of the mitochondrial abnormalities.Collectively, our findings indicate that acute exposure of Caco-2/15 cells to FE/ASC-catalyzed peroxidation produces harmful effects on mitochondrial functions and DNA integrity, which are abrogated by the powerful exogenous BHT antioxidant. Functional derangements of mitochondria may have implications in oxidative stress-related disorders such as inflammatory bowel diseases

Inelastic photoproduction of J/Psi mesons at HERA

An analysis of inelastic photoproduction of J/Psi mesons is presented using data collected at the ep collider HERA corresponding to an integrated luminosity of above 80pb-1. Differential and double differential cross sections are measured in a wide kinematic region: 6

Jet production in ep collisions at high Q(2) and determination of alpha(s)

The production of jets is studied in deep-inelastic e(+/-) p scattering at large negative four momentum transfer squared 150 LT Q(2) LT 15000 GeV2 using HERA data taken in 1999-2007, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 395 pb(-1). Inclusive jet, 2-jet and 3-jet cross sections, normalised to the neutral current deep-inelastic scattering cross sections, are measured as functions of Q(2), jet transverse momentum and proton momentum fraction. The measurements are well described by perturbative QCD calculations at next-to-leading order corrected for hadronisation effects. The strong coupling as determined from these measurement

Transverse-momentum and pseudorapidity distributions of charged hadrons in pp collisions at √s=0.9 and 2.36 TeV

Measurements of inclusive charged-hadron transverse-momentum and pseudorapidity distributions are presented for proton-proton collisions at root s = 0.9 and 2.36 TeV. The data were collected with the CMS detector during the LHC commissioning in December 2009. For non-single-diffractive interactions, the average charged-hadron transverse momentum is measured to be 0.46 +/- 0.01 (stat.) +/- 0.01 (syst.) GeV/c at 0.9 TeV and 0.50 +/- 0.01 (stat.) +/- 0.01 (syst.) GeV/c at 2.36 TeV, for pseudorapidities between -2.4 and +2.4. At these energies, the measured pseudorapidity densities in the central region, dN(ch)/d eta vertical bar(vertical bar eta vertical bar and pp collisions. The results at 2.36 TeV represent the highest-energy measurements at a particle collider to date

Child Abuse, Misdiagnosed by an Expertise Center: Part I—Medico-Social Aspects

Child abuse is a dangerous situation for an infant. Professionals need to weigh the risk of failing to act when children are seriously harmed against the serious harm done by carrying out safeguarding interventions. In severe cases, foster care might be advisable. The negative effects for the child’s psychosocial development requires that such placement must be based on very solid evidence. Our aim is to identify why Dutch parents whose child may have a medical condition that could mimic symptoms of child abuse have a significant chance of being erroneously convicted and losing custody of their child. As a method, we describe and analyze the following case. An Armenian-Dutch newborn (uncomplicated term vaginal delivery), starting at two weeks after birth, developed small bruises on varying body locations. At two months, a Well-Baby Clinic physician referred the girl to a university hospital, mentioning that there were no reasons to suspect child abuse and that her Armenian grandmother easily bruised as well. However, before consultation by a pediatrician of the hospital-located Expertise Center for Child Abuse, the parents were suspected of child abuse. Based on the expertise center’s protocols, skeletal X-rays were made, which showed three healed, asymptomatic rib fractures, while invalid statistics suggested, incorrectly, a 10–100 times more likely non-accidental than accidental cause of the symptoms (discussed in Part II of this series). The expertise enter physician ignored any argument that could show parental innocence, including the positive parent-child relationship reported by the Well-Baby Clinic and the general practitioner. The girl and her older brother were placed in a family foster home and then in a secret home. The case radically resolved when a large bruise also developed there, and an independent tissue disease specialist diagnosed a hereditary connective tissue disorder in the mother, implying that the girl’s bruises and rib fractures could well be disease-related. In conclusion, if child abuse is suspected, and foster care placement considered, the patient and the parents should be thoroughly investigated by an independent experienced pediatrician together with an experienced pediatric clinical psychologist or psychotherapist to produce an independent opinion. Children deserve this extra safeguard before being separated from their parents

Search for QCD Instanton-Induced Processes at HERA in the High-Q2Q^2 Domain

23 pages, 9 figures, this version accepted by EPJCInternational audienceSignals of QCD instanton-induced processes are searched for in neutral current deep-inelastic scattering at the electron-proton collider HERA in the kinematic region defined by the Bjorken-scaling variable $x > 10^{-3}$, the inelasticity $0.2< y < 0.7$ and the photon virtuality $150 < Q^2 < 15000$ GeV$^2$. The search is performed using H1 data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of ~$351$ pb$^{-1}$. No evidence for the production of QCD instanton-induced events is observed. Upper limits on the cross section for instanton-induced processes between $1.5$~pb and $6$~pb, at $95\%$~ confidence level, are obtained depending on the kinematic domain in which instantons could be produced. Compared to earlier publications, the limits are improved by an order of magnitude and for the first time are challenging theory predictions

Dijet Cross Sections and Parton Densities in Diffractive DIS at HERA

Issue: 10Differential dijet cross sections in diffractive deep-inelastic scattering are measured with the H1 detector at HERA using an integrated luminosity of 51.5 pb−1. The selected events are of the type ep → eXY , where the system X contains at least two jets and is well separated in rapidity from the low mass proton dissociation system Y . The dijet data are compared with QCD predictions at next-to-leading order based on diffractive parton distribution functions previously extracted from measurements of inclusive diffractive deepinelastic scattering. The prediction describes the dijet data well at low and intermediate zIP (the fraction of the momentum of the diffractive exchange carried by the parton entering the hard interaction) where the gluon density is well determined from the inclusive diffractive data, supporting QCD factorisation. A new set of diffractive parton distribution functions is obtained through a simultaneous fit to the diffractive inclusive and dijet cross sections. This allows for a precise determination of both the diffractive quark and gluon distributions in the range 0.05 < zIP < 0.9. In particular, the precision on the gluon density at high momentum fractions is improved compared to previous extractions

Jet Production in {\it ep} Collisions at Low Q2{\it Q^2} and Determination of α\alphas

The production of jets is studied in deep-inelastic e+p scattering at low negative four momentum transfer squared 5<Q^2<100 GeV^2 and at inelasticity 0.2<y<0.7 using data recorded by the H1 detector at HERA in the years 1999 and 2000, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 43.5 pb^-1. Inclusive jet, 2-jet and 3-jet cross sections as well as the ratio of 3-jet to 2-jet cross sections are measured as a function of Q^2 and jet transverse momentum. The 2-jet cross section is also measured as a function of the proton momentum fraction xi. The measurements are well described by perturbative quantum chromodynamics at next-to-leading order corrected for hadronisation effects and are subsequently used to extract the strong coupling alpha_s.Comment: 34 pages, 12 figures, updated version accepted by journa